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French military upgrades telecommunication networks

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A French soldier speaks to the radio next to a nomad during the Hydra Operation on October 30, 2013, in a desert near the village of Bamba between Timbuktu and Gao, northern Mali. The troubled west African nation and its allies launched Operation Hydra on October 20, 2013 after being taken aback by a recent upsurge in violence in the north, according to Jean-Herve Jezequel, an analyst in Dakar for the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank. About 1,500 troops are involved, including some 600 French, 600 Malians and 300 UN soldiers, and the operation is expected to last “as least 10 days”, according to a Malian military source. AFP PHOTO/PHILIPPE DESMAZES (Photo credit should read PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP/Getty Images)

Thales has been awarded two contracts to upgrade the French Ministry of Defense’s data and telephony infrastructure networks.

Under the contracts, awarded as part of the DESCARTES communications upgrade program, Thales will upgrade the SOCRATE resilient network as well as deploy the POINCARE network, which will connect military sites in France and overseas.

The SOCRATE network “will interconnect over 250,000 users at more than 100 strategic sites, including Hexagone-Balard, the new Ministry of Defense headquarters in Paris,” a Thales news release said. “The project will ensure continuity of the French military’s most important operational missions, from nuclear deterrence to joint forces command and the country’s permanent air security presence.”

Under the POINCARE contract, Thales and NextiraOne will interconnect 1,200 Ministry of Defense sites in mainland France and abroad.

The SOCRATE contract will begin in 2017 and continue through 2021, while the POINCARE upgrade will be completed in 2018.

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Michael Peck is a correspondent for Defense News and a columnist for the Center for European Policy Analysis. He holds an M.A. in political science from Rutgers University. Find him at theuncommondefense.com. His email is mikedefense1@gmail.com.